Lombard To Fight Signs Of The Times

Lombard village trustees have ordered ordinances drafted to require people to remove graffiti from their buildings and to halt the use of Roosevelt Road to display used cars with ``for sale`` signs.

The owner of a building or home could be fined $25 to $500 under the proposal if he did not act to remove the graffiti within a specified time.

At a committee of the whole meeting Thursday, the village board agreed to take steps to stop people from parking cars in lots along Roosevelt by prohibiting parking for sale within 50 feet of the street and banning overnight parking for sale.

Signs would be posted warning of the parking ban and that the cars will be towed. The village also would try to get written agreements with owners of property frequently used as parking spots for cars for sale, so that removing the cars would be easier.

Village Atty. Rita Elsner warned that the village would be liable for civil rights suits if it were not careful in trying to find the car owners and notify them to remove the vehicles.

She said Lombard once was forced to pay $400 to $500 to the owner of a car that the village towed from a highway because it appeared abandoned and run-down.

Legally, the owner of the property must send a notice to the last known owner of the parked car before it can be towed, Elsner said. She said the village would have to do the same before removing vehicles, unless the cars were parked so as to constitute a hazard, such as blocking a fire lane.

The police chief would designate which areas were to have the ``no overnight parking`` signs, and the property owners would pay for signs and posts. The village would install them.

Some trustees said these measures might clear up the problem in Lombard by chasing it into neighboring Villa Park.

Under the graffiti ordinance, proposed by Trustee Laura Vazquez, the village would furnish, free of charge, a chemical to help remove graffiti. The substance costs $200 for 4 gallons, the board was told, and is of such strong concentration that adult supervision must be provided when young people who are found to have sprayed graffiti on buildings are made to remove it.

The ordinance is modeled on one used for some time in Bellwood, where youth groups have volunteered to help in graffiti removal. Such volunteer work would be sought in Lombard, Vazquez said.

Trustee Nancy Manna opposed the antigraffiti ordinance as an unnecessary measure that would ``victimize the victims`` by forcing people whose property was vandalized to remove the offending material or face a court fine.

Elsner, who is village prosecutor, said the ordinance would be useless in court without a provision for a fine.

She said that sometimes people convicted of misdemeanor crimes are sentenced to perform community service, and the removal of graffiti could be such a service, especially on vandalized property whose owners are too old or physically unable to remove graffiti.